Under the spreading chestnut tree
I sold you and you sold me:
There lie they, and here lie we
Under the spreading chestnut tree.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Whew! That Was a Close One!

A judge says whatever the NSA is doing is just peachy, constitutionally speaking:

A federal judge
in New York has ruled that the National Security Agency's mass
collection of phone data is constitutional, rejecting a challenge
brought by the American Civil Liberties Union.U.S. District Judge William
Pauley's decision came just 11 days after a district judge in Washington
ruled the opposite – that the agency's "almost Orwellian" surveillance
program is likely unconstitutional. The ruling raises the likelihood
that the issue will be settled by the Supreme Court.In
his 54-page decision, Pauley said there is no evidence that the
government has used any of the data collected for purposes other than
"investigating and disrupting" terror attacks.

None of this matters at all, in any practical sense. If a whole army of federal judges -- and I'm sure there are enough of them to constitute at least a modest army -- were to declare the NSA constitutionally impermissible and order its activities to cease and desist, does anyone imagine that they'd go out of business? Didn't think so. Probably the only thing that would happen is that all of the judges' extramarital romances, porn-surfing habits, and other such peccadilloes would "leak." In any case, it would be made abundantly clear that judges actually command no more divisions than does the Pope (thanks, Josef Stalin).

It's worth noticing, though, for purposes of sour amusement. Ah, our Glorious Constitution! Amendment 4 suggests that, absent probable cause "supported by oath or affirmation," and warrants "particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized," we're all secure against searches and seizures. I say it suggests this because it certainly appears to be no more than a suggestion at best, and really, more like a bad joke. In practice, it might as well say that nothing shall be searched or seized unless someone receiving a government paycheck feels like searching or seizing it, in which case, it's theirs.

And the judges! One says the NSA crap is "almost Orwellian" and "likely unconstitutional." Hmmmmm. Can we conclude that it would become certainly unconstitutional if and only if it becomes fully Orwellian? Doubleplus ungood, man. Then there's the other judge. Since the government is doing things for purposes he likes, obviously what they're doing is constitutional. "Constitutional" means "having a purpose that a judge approves of."

Finally, don't forget: it doesn't matter what any judge thinks or writes. The government has the guns. It's going to do whatever it wants.

Get used to it.

But that's just the problem. We are used to it. And getting more used to it by the day.

About Me

I'm a 62-year old retired optical engineer. Physically, I'm located near Fort Wayne, Indiana with my lovely and patient wife of 41 years' standing. My true home, however, is Reactionary Utopia. I have two grown children, and two cats who are fairly dubious about each other.